The Third Child
by musiccfreakk44
Summary: When Azula and Fire Lord Ozai hatch an escape from jail, bringing with them a group of fellow prisoners, they form a revolt known as "the Phoenix Rebels." Armed with new technology previously unheard of, only the secret third son of Ozai can stop them...
1. Preface

**Preface**

"What exactly do you propose?" Came a soft drawl from the cell to her left. Azula had long since given up on learning the names of these prisoners; most of them were nothing more then meager villagers after all. She refused to think of herself as on their level. Just because they were all trapped behind the same bars; all sleeping on the same uncomfortable concrete, didn't make them equals.

"When you speak to me," she replied, "I'll ask you to address me as princess, and nothing less." She was _royalty _after all. She wasn't _scum. _Nobody, not even Zuko, could take away that birthright. When she escaped this hell, she'd show the entire world that it was she, and not Zuko, who was most powerful. She deserved the position of Firelord. It had been so close…the crown only inches from lying atop her head; in its rightful position. The entire nation, only seconds from applauding her. The entire _world_, practically siting in the palm of her hand. And after three generations of fighting and meticulous planning, it had been stolen away in just one afternoon. Stolen by _Zuko. _She was going to massacre him.

"Please then, princess, tell us your plan." Azula pointedly ignored the sarcasm in his voice. "You promised us that if we joined you, you would help us escape."

"And I stand by my promises." she said icily. "As long as you support me, your days in jail are numbered. Now if you value your life, I suggest you stop questioning me."

Prisoner number one, as Azula referred to him, seemed to be wise after all. The annoying chatter quieted immediately, and the somber silence of jail once again rang through her ears. It was becoming oddly comfortable. The long days, and longer nights. Barely sleeping, but also hardly ever feeling tired. The most exciting thing they did all day was walk single file to the wash room, where guards stood by the doors as you showered or bathed. It was humiliating. But Azula didn't mind overall, because the many down hours had given her plenty of time to come up with an escape plan.

And what a plan it was…


	2. Chapter 1

_BAM._

Zuko hadn't been this frustrated since his days tracking the Avatar. The steadily growing pile of papers that littered his desk looked more intimidating every second, and the stress was more then the new Fire Lord was used to. He jammed his fist hard against the wall, adding another dent to the collection there.

The job wasn't at all what he'd thought it would be. The life of glamour and power he'd always imagined had turned out to be nothing more then paperwork and public outings. With the absence of war, the dramatic military conferences and frantic battles were over. For the most part, now his days consisted of peace conferences and money rationing. The cost of repairing a broken world was surprisingly high.

He was trying, trying harder then ever to be the leader his people expected him to be. But doing paperwork had never been Zuko's forte. He belonged out in the world, fighting and training and following his destiny. Lately he felt a bit like a warrior without a cause.

He sighed dramatically. It seemed that no matter where life took him, Zuko would always feel lost.

Once again he settled at his desk, flipping open a folder labeled urgent. Funnily enough, even the urgent files looked as dull as the average ones. A small Earth kingdom village called Siang La was demanding a formal letter of apology for their troubles, in addition to a payment of 7,000 gold pieces for burned down houses and town landmarks. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Zuko pondered. Peace was nowhere near as simple as he would've liked. Although the Earth kingdom peoples were glad for their new freedom, the 100 year grudge wasn't so easily overcome. Most of the towns that had been previously run by Fire nation soldiers were requesting reparation for their troubles. For one, Zuko didn't believe that he should have to pay the remaining nations for peace. They were lucky that the Fire nation had suddenly called off all their attacks in the first place. How could they ask for more? He understood how much the Fire nation had hurt these towns, but to re-achieve harmony; the four nations would have to work _together _to heal the world. And another problem: the Fire nation had always been a proud people, and with each payment and apology they became more and more indignant. Zuko'd made plenty of speeches and appeals to the other nations, and in time, some of the leaders had come to share his opinion. Ba Sing Se, for instance, was on board with his plan for restoring the world as a team. As was the Northern Water Tribe. The small Earth kingdom towns were giving him the most trouble. The main problem, however, was that if he did not pay the reparations, the small towns refused to supply the Fire nation with food. For the last hundred years, his people had enjoyed an easy surplus from the farms that they ruled over. The impending threat of famine if he did not pay the towns, and revolt if he did, was the cause of many of the holes in Zuko's wall. And as he tossed the file down, he seriously considered adding another one.

The Fire Lord's office overlooked the entire nation, and Zuko spent a lot of his time gazing out this window, wondering what he should do. Things had improved in the last year, that much was for sure. From his perch in the tower, he could see a few brave visitors from the Earth kingdom, shopping in the town center. If he could just somehow persuade the world to forgive them freely…

"Zuko?" Called a tentative voice from his door. "Zuko are you in there?"

"Come in." He said, not turning away from the window. Any interruption from this never ending train of thought was fine by him. "It's not locked."

He listened as the doorknob squeaked open and soft footsteps treaded across the floor. An arm snaked around his waist, and he turned around to greet Mai with a strained smile.

"Hey." He muttered softly.

"How was your day?" Her words were whispered softly in Zuko's ear, giving him chills.

"Awful so far." He admitted. His glance turned ever so slightly to the mountainous pile of paperwork on his desk, and Mai caught his drift.

"Don't you have people who can help you out with that, _Fire Lord?" _She smiled.

Zuko's eyebrows furrowed. "I wish. That's only the urgent files. I have advisors dealing with about a thousand other complaints."

"Well," She said. "If it's any consolation, I think you're doing a good job Zuko." She laid her head on his shoulder, and the two stood in silence for awhile; just looking out the window and enjoying the view. Normally, such silences were comfortable between them. That was one of the things Zuko had always liked best about Mai, she didn't feel the need to fill every free second with conversation. This time, though, was different. Something about the small pause was tense and uncomfortable, as if there was something going unsaid between the two. He almost went as far as to make small talk; something pointless about the weather or sports. Instead he coughed self consciously and walked back over to his desk.

"I should probably work on these sooner or later." He mumbled, busying his hands by organizing the many folders.

"Zuko." Mai placed a hand on her hip, showing a slight flare of anger in her features. "Don't you remember that we had plans for today?"

_Crap. _Zuko searched his mind, desperately trying to remember what he'd promised Mai. By the way her eyes were boring a hole through him, he felt like a husband who'd forgotten their anniversary. He squirmed under her gaze for a minute, before his shoulders relaxed and he gave up. "I forgot." He said, genuinely. "I'm sorry."

"We were _supposed _to be going out to breakfast and then to the theatre. Remember?"

Zuko could've smacked himself in the forehead. _Of course!_ "Now I do."

"That's all right." She replied brightly. "We've still got time. Let's go." She started to head towards the door, but Zuko remained rooted to the spot behind his desk.

"_Well," _Mai said impatiently. "Are you coming or not?"

Zuko groaned inwardly, knowing that the following conversation wasn't going to be pleasant. "I cant." He said, gesturing helplessly to the mound of papers on his desk. "You saw how much work I have to do! There's reparations, and farming agreements, and I have a meeting with my council of advisors in an hour!" Zuko himself sounded overwhelmed, like he was coming slightly undone. "We'll go another day." He finished. "Really."

Mai stood still for a moment, expression changing from mildly content to blank in the drop of a pin. Her hand twitched ever so slightly towards her knife pocket. Zuko knew that she was hiding her emotions, refusing to betray her disappointment. For some reason, this made him more angry. How could she be disappointed in him! Weren't some responsibilities more important then breakfast and a show, for La's sake! He didn't have time to _deal_ with this, he had an entire nation to run. Once the aftermath of the war was over, he knew, things would calm down. Mai hadn't gotten to see him very often lately, but it wasn't his fault!

"Whatever." She said coldly. "Call me if you ever have time for me, your majesty."

Zuko stood up, fuming. "How can you be so condescending!" He screamed at her. "You know that I would've liked to go, but my responsibilities as Fire Lord come first! An entire nation needs me, I have to have my priorities in order!"

Mai looked at him blankly, betraying only a hint of sadness in her pale eyes. "Bye, Zuko." She said emotionlessly. Then she turned and walked out the door, never looking back once.

That wall was going to be broken by the end of the day.

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"Ugh, how much _longer?" _ Sokka whined as he leaned over the side of Appa's saddle. "All I see is _blue _in every direction! I'm going crazy!"

Aang struggled to keep the laughter from his voice. "Sokka, you've been to Ba Sing Se before. You know how long it takes."

"Yeah, forever." He muttered. "That's how long." The rest of the gang, though not voicing their complaints, looked just as beat as Sokka did. It had been a long trip, nearly two straight days since they'd left the Southern Water tribe. Sokka and Katara had stopped home to see their Gran-gran and spend some time back in their home land. After a year of constant traveling alongside Aang, both of them were surprised at how homesick they'd gotten. Their dad, Hacoda, had been appointed chief of the people; and he'd been glad to work out treaties with the Avatar. So finally, after weeks of relaxation, the gang was on the move again.

"I think I see land…" Sokka murmured. "Off in the distance."

Katara lifted her head slightly from where it rested on Appa's saddle and rolled her eyes at him. "You're imagining things." She said, voice thick with exhaustion. "Go back to sleep Sokka, it's too early for complaining."

"I _can't _sleep. I'm _hungry." _Sokka rubbed his stomach and groaned theatrically. "Can't Appa fly any faster?"

"Hey!" Aang said defensively. "He's doing the best he can, aren't you buddy?" Aang removed one hand from the reins and scratched Appa's head comfortingly. "He's just as tired as you are."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Sokka replied as he stood and began rummaging through the bags. "Did anyone pack extra food?"

"We ate all of mine." Aang said with a shrug.

"Katara?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"Gone." She muttered.

"Toph?" Sokka called.

"She's sleeping." Katara said softly. "Don't wake her up, it's the first time she's slept in days. You know how she hates flying."

Sokka seemed to weigh his morals with his growling, empty stomach. He looked desperately to where Toph lied, head resting on a bulky backpack, and finally selfishness won out. "Toph." Sokka whispered, tip toeing over to where the earthbender had fallen asleep. He reached a tentative finger to poke her, but Toph's arm shot out with lightning reflexes and clenched the finger just before it hit her. Eyes still closed, she twisted it backwards so that Sokka let out a high pitched scream, echoing in the wind.

"What was that for!" He screeched.

"I'm _trying _to sleep without throwing up." She said angrily, releasing his finger. "Now leave me alone."

Aang grew tired of watching his friends' antics, and instead resigned himself to watching the ocean roll by below them. It was low tide in the early morning, and the skies were clear; all relatively good flying conditions. He figured they would be in Ba Sing Se by noon at the latest. The Earth King was awaiting their arrival, and the thought of a welcoming banquet make his stomach moan. One of the greatest benefits of being the Avatar: everybody respected his vegetarianism. There would be plenty of berries and vegetables to eat during their meeting, not to mention an assortment of every vegetable he could imagine. A moan of delight slipped through his lips. He didn't like to complain about it, but Sokka wasn't the only one craving breakfast.

Unfortunately, after their nice vacation in the water tribe, arriving in Ba Sing Se meant going back to the tedious world of politics. Aang liked the world better when there was a clear line of right and wrong. Now there were so many complications, it seemed that everybody was stumbling through the gray area and looking for the Avatar to clear things up. Little did they know that he was only a fourteen year old boy, just as lost and confused as the rest of them. The constant pressure was the worst part of his responsibilities.

Of course, there were some other recent changes in his life… Aang blushed as he turned his gaze to Katara; asleep against the saddle. Even when she was sleeping, her cheeks were rosy and her dark braids fell just so around her face. He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath, studying the shape of her lips and the line of her jaw. They hadn't _officially _defined their relationship as "dating", but he liked to think that they were together. After all, they went everywhere together, hung out constantly, and even kissed sometimes. What more did it take to be called a relationship? Things were…nice between them. It was all he'd ever wanted.

She rolled over, muttering something quietly in her sleep, and Aang tore his gaze from her. He turned back to the horizon, to the just peaking sun, and sighed contentedly. As long as he had his friends, Aang felt confident that he could overcome any future predicaments. After all, hadn't they defeated the Firelord already? The rough spots of their journey were over, and the future that he saw was just as clear as the ocean spilling out below them.

"LAND HO!" Sokka yelled. "I knew I wasn't imagining things!"

Sure enough the lights of a town shone bright in the distance. A startled Katara sat straight up, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Are you sure you aren't hallucinat-" She cut off as Aang reached for her, turning her head to the western horizon.

"Look Katara." He let his hand linger on her face for as long as possible. She blushed, her cheeks turning blood red, and turned her gaze to meet Aang's. The eye contact was slightly tinged with awkwardness, but romantic none the less. Katara placed her hand on top of Aang's and held it for a second, just to make sure he wouldn't be offended, before pulling it slowly off.

"I see it now." She said quietly.

"TOPH." Sokka called, completely oblivious to the other two. He took his chances with tapping her once again on the face. She sat up slowly, emotions running from confused to murderous.

"_AGAIN _Sokka!" She hollered, jumping up and stalking angrily towards him. Sokka, however, was unfazed. Still grinning from ear to ear he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face the land.

"Look!." He cried, doing a little skip of happiness. His stomach rumbled loudly, but for once he resisted complaining. After days of travel, nothing was going to rain on his parade.

"Sokka." Toph said flatly.

"Oh, right." He replied sheepily. "It's Ba Sing Se! I knew I wasn't going crazy when I said that I saw land!"

"Can I go back to sleep?" Toph didn't share his extreme glee. She would go crazy with excitement when they actually touched the _ground. _

Sokka seemed to realize that Toph was a lost cause, and instead went to interrupt Aang and Katara. He sat down directly in between them, putting an arm around both and pulling them in close. "So who's ready to eat?"

**So, I know that this was pretty short. I just wanted to get some of the background and setting done before I set in on the action part of the story. Hopefully next chapter I can start building into the beginning of the plot, but for now I'm just kind of setting the mood. Hope you enjoyed!**


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